Raven: reintroduction
The raven went extinct in the Netherlands, but has been reintroduced. In recent years its numbers have been stable.
Trends
By 1928, all the ravens in the Netherlands had been exterminated. In the period 1969-1992 approximately 200 ravens from Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommem were released in the Veluwe area. These established successfully; most of the 80-100 breeding pairs present today are their descendants. Elsewhere in the Netherlands small numbers of ravens occur on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug and in Salland, the Achterhoek and Flevoland.
In recent years the breeding rate has been declining because food has become scarcer (for example, rabbit numbers have fallen).
The raven is on the Red List of birds.
Technical note
The data are from the Ecological Monitoring Network's national network for monitoring breeding birds. The figure shows the number of breeding and non-breeding pairs in the Netherlands.
References
- Dijk, A.J. van, M.J.T. van der Weide, R. Kleefstra, D. Zoetebier en C. Plate (2001). Kolonievogels en zeldzame broedvogels in Nederland in 1999. SOVON-monitoringrapport 2001/08. SOVON Vogelonderzoek Nederland. Beek-Ubbergen.
- Renssen, T.A. (1988). De herintroductie van de raaf (Corax corax) in Nederland: een overzicht. RIN-rapport 88/47. Arnhem.
